Every mother wants to have an easy and uncomplicated pregnancy and a healthy child. Unfortunately, more and more women are experiencing pregnancy complications such as anemia, high blood pressure, thyroid problems, diabetes, preterm labor, and low birth weight.

More children are being born with birth defects, and many of those who appear normal at birth develop health problems later in life.

One in 10 children will have ADHD, one in 150 will become autistic. Children are affected by anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Children develop type 2 diabetes, something unheard of just 20 years ago.

Experts agree that most of these problems can be reduced and even prevented with proper nutrition during pregnancy.

The mother’s nutrition has an effect not only on the pregnancy and the baby’s birth weight, but also on the risk of birth defects, pregnancy complications, maternal illnesses, and future illnesses when the child becomes an adult.

Nutrients reduce pregnancy complications and birth defects

Studies show that a proper diet and nutritional supplements, such as fish oil, vitamins C and E, can prevent maternal diseases during pregnancy and preterm birth. Vitamin A and beta-carotene along with magnesium, fish oil, and zinc may reduce maternal mortality. Iron and folic acid reduce anemia. Calcium reduces the incidence of preeclampsia and high blood pressure.

According to the Journal of Nutrition:

“Numerous studies support the concept that one of the main causes of pregnancy complications may be suboptimal nutrition.”

“The frequency and severity of pregnancy complications can be reduced by improving the nutritional status of the mother.”

“Maternal nutritional deficiencies…can contribute significantly to the occurrence of birth defects.”

Maternal nutrition will affect the rest of the child’s life

Medical research shows that good nutrition during pregnancy and childhood can reduce the risk of cancer later in life for the baby.

Adequate maternal nutritional supplementation can reduce the risk of diabetes later in the child’s life.

Certain specific deficiencies (for example, magnesium) can also increase the risk of diabetes in the future.

Even the risk of future osteoporosis (in a baby as an adult) is determined by “maternal nutritional status during pregnancy” and especially by vitamin D deficiency, which is very common.

Most pregnant women are deficient

Unfortunately, most pregnant women are deficient in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and omega 3 fatty acids.

Omega 3 fatty acids, especially DHA, are part of the brain, central nervous system and retina. A baby needs them for normal brain and eye development.

Premature babies are more likely to have ADHD, depression, and schizophrenia because their brains didn’t have a chance to fully develop and take in all the DHA they needed. On the other hand, the children of mothers who eat a lot of oily fish have better intellectual development and a higher IQ.

The problem is that almost 90% of women do not get even the minimum amount of DHA. Many women are deficient in folic acid, despite food fortification. Deficiencies in magnesium, calcium, iron, vitamins C, D, E, and many other nutrients are very common, which can endanger the health of both mother and baby.

Don’t count on the prenatal multivitamin, it doesn’t work

The sad truth is that a typical prescription prenatal vitamin does not correct most deficiencies, which are extremely common in pregnant women.

The prenatal multivitamin is a poor source of nutrients. All ingredients are synthetic, so your body can’t use them the same way it uses natural nutrients from food.

Plus, it’s packed with chemicals, like crospovidone, FD&C Red No. 40 aluminum lake, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose, lactose, magnesium stearate, light mineral oil, polysorbate 80, sodium lauryl sulfate, stearic acid, siloid, titanium dioxide, and sodium citrate. triethyl. Neither you nor your baby need these chemicals. They do not help, they can only cause harm.

How can you be sure you have the most optimal nutrition?

Eat a good diet. This means eating natural foods. Oats are natural, but cereal made with oats that looks like little donuts is not. The steak is natural, but the cold meat is not. Eggs are natural, eggbeaters are unnatural synthetic junk.

In other words, eat foods the way they occur naturally and avoid processed man-made foods. This usually means avoiding anything that comes in boxes, cans, and plastic packets, and anything that has an expiration date within a few months. Real food goes bad, junk food is loaded with preservatives, so it can last a long time.

Eat fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, berries, meat, chicken, lamb, eggs, cheese, butter, and any other natural foods you like. Seafood and fish are generally fine, but eat large fish (salmon, tuna, etc.) in moderation due to the potentially high mercury content.

Try to minimize soft drinks, ice cream, cookies, white bread and white rice, most breakfast cereals, and any other processed foods.

But even eating a good diet can leave you deficient in important nutrients. That’s why I recommend nutritional supplements.

As I mentioned, the prenatal vitamins your doctor prescribed are nothing but junk. It is a combination of synthetic chemicals, some of which may even be harmful to a developing baby.

You should only take supplements that are made from real food. There is a company called Standard Process that has been producing food supplements since the 1920s. They grow fruits and vegetables on their own certified organic farm. They dehydrate them using a proprietary low-heat, high-vacuum process that locks in all the nutrients. Think of it like turning a grape into a grape. Grapes have all the same nutrients as grapes, except for water.

They also use offal (liver, kidney, etc.) from organic cows because they have a very high nutrient content. They combine different ingredients to create various nutritional supplements. There is nothing artificial, no preservatives, no chemicals, just real food with real nutrients.

It is never too early or too late to start. Whether you’re planning your pregnancy or in your third trimester, you need proper nutrition at every stage.

This is the program I recommend to my patients:

Catalyn: a natural multivitamin/multimineral made from 12 different foods

Folic Acid B12 – for extra folic acid and B12

Ferrofood – natural organic iron

Calcium Lactate – Natural Calcium and Magnesium from Beats

TunaOmega Oil: naturally pure source of DHA and EPA, guaranteed free of mercury, PCBs and other chemicals

All of these are from the standard process. They are only available through healthcare professionals, so visit their website and find a doctor near you. Or you can call my office at 718-769-0997 if you can’t find anyone locally.

The important point is this. If you want a healthy, uncomplicated pregnancy and a healthy, well-developed baby, eat real food and take food-based nutritional supplements.